To get an idea of how serious this swine flu threat is for the business world, consider this factoid about the great 1918 Spanish Flu epidemic in an interesting piece in today's Wall Street Journal. Besides killing 50 million people around the world, that pandemic is considered the fourth-ranking global financial catastrophe since 1870.

Even though the swine flu so far is not as virulent as feared, it is having an enormous effect on businesses, workers and their families. In light of Texas Gov. Rick Perry's disaster declaration linked to swine flu, employment attorney  Audrey Mross of Munck Carter in Dallas says employers should have a plan for responding to personnel complications from the spread of the virus. "The list of questions for employers to answer is fairly long," Mross says. "If you've got a slightly sick employee, do you have the ability for him or her to work from home? If you have a healthy employee who isn't comfortable coming to work, what do you do? Do you continue wages and salary during these absences or ask employees to use paid time off? There are all sorts of dilemmas that come up." To interview Ms. Mross about swine flu and the implications for employers, contact Mark Annick at 800-559-4534 or mark@androvett.com.